Submersible pumping systems are often deployed into wells to recover petroleum fluids from subterranean reservoirs. Typically, a submersible pumping system includes a number of components, including one or more electric motors coupled to one or more pump assemblies. The selection of an appropriate motor for a downhole application depends on analysis of the ambient downhole conditions and the motor characteristics.
The power delivered by an electric motor is limited by a number of factors, including its internal temperature. The ambient conditions in a wellbore have a significant impact on the internal temperature of the motor and on the proper selection of the motor. Application engineers have typically been tasked to manually calculate power capacity, loads, voltage drops, heat rises, heating effects, flow rates and other parameters that influence the selection of a motor for downhole applications. The manual calculation of these factors is time consuming and error prone, and is frequently skewed by improper understanding of wellbore conditions. Selection of an improper motor for a particular application can result in a shortened motor life and excessive expenses associated with replacing the motor. As such, designers significantly “oversize” a motor for a given application to ensure adequate durability. Oversized motors tend to be more expensive, thereby adding unnecessary costs to the deployment. It is to these and other deficiencies in the prior art that the present invention is directed.